We went up to Maine this weekend to visit my friend Paula and her family.  Two of her children have birthdays in August, so she has a combined party for them.  We stayed over one night, and all 6 kids got along marvelously!  There was only one non-injury incident that ended in tears, which is great for any group of kids, but especially for our group, because each of us has one child who is particularly spirited.  The birthday party went well, and the weather cooperated for most of the day.  They grow mosquitos extra big in Maine, apparently, and their bites turn into huge dime-sized welts!  J had one on his forehead and a few on the back of his neck and his legs.  I don't think that R or I got any... but we seem fairly immune to bugbites anyway. 

We contemplated spending a second night in Maine, but I decided I'd rather muddle through the drive on a Saturday afternoon than waste half of my Sunday driving, so we came home last night.  Besides, there is a children's program at the church we've been visiting on the 3rd Sunday of each month, and I knew the kids would want to go.  We did get stuck in some traffic and thunderstorms on the way home, so it took 5 hours with two extra-quick stops.  When I saw that it was close to 7:00 pm as I entered Connecticut, I had a bit of a lead foot until we got into Hartford (bleh, driving through Hartford is the worst part of the trip!).... and I made it home before dark.

At 6:00 or so this morning, J came into my room and said "Mom, there's some water in the hall, should I get a towel?"  Seeing as how I was asleep, I did not consider any reasons as to why there should be water in the hallway, so I said "sure."  A few minutes later, I realized that not only had he taken the towels out of the bathroom, but was rummaging through the two baskets of clean laundry in my bedroom to look for more towels.  I asked what he was doing, and he said "it's a lot of water." 

Sure enough, the carpet was under a half-inch of water.  The kitchen was surprisingly dry (as was the ceiling), and at first I could not figure out where it was coming from, so I woke up Dad.  He immediately checked the utility room, and sure enough, one of the water heaters was dripping water.  Since he went to bed around 1:00 am, it had emptied itself of its contents within the past 5 hours, all over the back entry of the house (linoleum) and seeped through into the hallway and part of the living room! 

So, long story short, it's now 8:45 and the water to the house has been shut off.  The hallway was shop-vacced (it didn't do a bad job), the plumber is on his way, and it looks like we're going to be missing church in 2 hours, since none of us has showered.  Oh well, the kids are spending some quality time with Dad playing with the new XBox 360 (see what happens when I go out of town for a day??), and we have an excuse to just lounge around all morning (though I admit I wish I were just waking up!).

Have a great Sunday!